Elephant Bush Camp

After a lovely breakfast at a nearby guesthouse garden patio, we walked back to the Lanna Bonita to connect with our driver to head out of Chiang Mai and into the hills for Bush Camp.  After a few relatively easy hours on the road we were delivered to the check in desk of the Elephant Bush Camp.

We dropped our bags and were escorted via an electric golf cart to the common dining and swimming area overlooking the valley.  We had a few minutes before lunch so some of us jumped into the pool before even noticing the surreal scene below the edge of the infinity pool.  The view was just unbelievable.  Several words were escaping all our lips as we took it all in. 

Incredible, green screen, majestic, all-the-components-of-utopian-CGI-tropical-plains-imagery.  We could almost hear the orchestral glory music coming to a crescendo in the background as we panned our eyes across the vast plains dotted with grazing cows, smoking farm huts, wandering river, and mountains on the horizon.  Breath taking by any definition.

After lunch we got to go meet with some of the elephants and had the honour of feeding them!  Feeding the elephants over these 3 days is definitely one of the few major highlights of the trip. On our first day, they gave us each a variety basket of elephant delicacies including leaves, pineapples, sugar cane, and baby bananas.  We had to cut them and prepare them to feed to the elephants. They also gave us some tamarind balls, which the elephants detest, but need for digestion.  We were instructed to roll them in unhusked rice and salt chunks before wrapping with a banana leaf and rubbing with pineapple juice to hide the smell.  Most of us were successful in our trickery (sorry Yen).  

Feeding them lets you get really close to them, to touch them, to connect with them and to see and feel up close how dexterous their trunks are and how they cleverly maneuver it and their food around to optimize it all for their preference.  Some took everything they could get as it came.  

Others took only their faves (like bananas, sugarcane or pineapples and rejected the grasses and leaves until all the good stuff was gone.  Some took it all, but put the less desirable bits on the ground between their legs for later once they got all the good stuff.  So fun to watch them and get to know them!

After the elephants, we were walked through some of their gardens and they were amazing with lots of edible plants they harvest for the kitchen and contribute to the elephants massive intake.  They had built some Karen tribe-style houses and buildings along with some traditional rice manufacturing tools (to husk and separate it) and weaving looms to help us visualise how that tribe has lived for centuries.  While they were a re-creation, it was a very interesting glimpse into the Karen history and culture.  We didn't realise it at the time, but in just a few days from now we'd be trekking through the jungle just over the distant mountains and exploring the real thing.

We got a little cooking demo of a traditional Thai curry (Kang Kai Sai Supparod) as well and it was delicious!  Some of the Karen employees' kids tried their hands at grinding the coconuts for the coconut cream for the curry and that in itself was a very cute and entertaining display.

Before dinner we were dropped off at our two tents for the five of us.  They call it camp and say we're staying in "tents", but I'm not sure "glamping" can even begin to describe the elevated status of these tents.  Just because some of the walls are canvas, the door closes with a lockable zipper and it has a pointed roof, I'm not sure it automatically qualifies as a "tent". It was a full on luxury suite.  A cavernous main room with queen and twin beds, a desk, chairs, drawers, clothes rack, fridge, fans, AC and a full and luxurious bathroom with double sinks was what we called home for he next two nights.

We settled into our "tents" and headed for the pool/dining area, where it was happy hour before dinner and swam in the unbelievable view before a few evening activities and dinner.

Evening activities included a cooking demonstration, a traditional Thai dance performance by a local village school and a video presentation about the history of the area and its elephants.  All great stuff.  We were wiped after a full day and retired after dinner to our tents for a good rest before day two with the elephants.

The next morning we set off to an area of their property where they make "elephant poo paper".  Yes that's quite literal.  They make paper out of elephant poop.  

The process was interesting to witness and partake in.  Their poop is super fibrous so they boil it for a long time to kill things, then grind it in a special grinder barrel for hours, before finally making it into balls the right size for a single sheet of paper.  

We each got a ball to make a sheet of paper with, and some flowers and pretty leaves to decorate it should we choose to do so.  The poop balls also happen to be a perfect size, weight and consistency for juggling.  Who knew? 

Once decorated, we left our poop sheets to dry in the sun. 

They also had some pre-made and already dried sheets for us to draw or paint on should anyone so desire.  This wasn't popular with any of the other guests, but we certainly took advantage of the shitty paper to hone and show off our extensive fine arts skillz in poopology!

After exhausting our artistic energy, we got another cooking demo of Khanom Krok and also got to taste some Kafe Boran (Thai style coffee).  However, to cap off the awesome morning, we each got a nice big variety bowl of food to feed the elephants again (yay) before heading to the water hole to watch them bathe. 

This was also a highlight, watching them roll around in the water and play with each other.  It's hard to imagine something so big and heavy play, but once they hit the water they couldn't stop - it was inspiring to witness them having so much fun!

After lunch we had some down time to just explore the grounds and absorb the incredible environment from the pool.

On our third and last day, we started off with the elephants again, this time learning about their medical and veterinary regimen. We were then tasked with cooking up some medicinal herbal treats for them, chopping up coarse grasses, and mixing and mashing in tamarind, banana, pumpkin and other healthy bits and pieces into a thick paste. 

We formed them into balls and decorated them with edible flowers to make them feel special :) They loved them so bad!  And we loved giving it to them!  Win-win!  What a great encounter with the elephants to wrap up our stay at bush camp!

We had enough time after to pack up our "tents", have one last swim, and eat lunch before catching our van back to Chiang Mai to prepare for our next adventure!